A Samurai's Farewell
by YaninaFrauchez
Summary: [One Shot] Reimagining of the last scene in Power Rangers Super Samurai. When Lauren leaves the team without saying goodbye, Antonio chases after her to talk through her issues and make sure she receives a Samurai's farewell.


_A/N: My first ever fanfic I knew I had to go with Power Rangers Samurai. Just a sweet alternate take to the ending of the series. Hope you enjoy, and any constructive criticism is appreciated. No hate please._

* * *

It was finally over. After generations of fighting, Master Xandred was finally destroyed and the Nighlok threat was over for good. This victory could not have been accomplished without Lauren Shiba and her creation of the Shiba Fire Disk. Now that the fighting was over, the Samurai Rangers would be going their separate ways. It was time for them to say farewell to each other and move on with their lives. While the other Rangers were having a farewell party, one was by herself in her room. Lauren held her Samuraizer in thought about how the fighting was over. Her thoughts however were interrupted as someone knocked on her door. She turned to see Antonio standing in the doorway.

"Aren't you coming to eat a burger with us?" Antonio asked her. "We're almost out and I don't know how much longer I can save you one." He added laughing slightly.

Lauren smiled back at him. "I'll be on my way soon, I was just thinking. I know that it's finally over, but I can't help but wonder if we're ever going to have to fight again." She told him.

"You want to talk for a bit?" Antonio asked.

Lauren nodded and moved over so Antonio could take a seat next to him. "All my life I've prepared to end the Nighlok threat. Now that Master Xandred is gone, I'm free to do whatever I want. I waited so long for this, and now that it's here I don't know what to do." She confided in him.

"Well, the first thing that you can do is come get a burger before Mike eats the last one. After that, why don't you go out and explore a bit? See the world that you sacrificed so much to help save." Antonio told her.

Lauren smiled and nodded. "That sounds like a good idea." She said. The two headed down together, and enjoyed their final meal together with their fellow rangers.

The next day everyone was packed and ready to leave. Lauren was up the earliest, and had her bags ready to go. Jayden greeted her at the doorway ready to say goodbye to his sister that he had just reunited with.

"We couldn't have done this without you sis." Jayden told Lauren giving her a hug. "I wish you could stay." He added.

Lauren smiled back at Jayden. "Jayden, we're a family again. You're going to see me plenty." She made her way over to her bags where Mentor Gi was waiting.

"Here, let me help you with those." Mentor Ji told Lauren grabbing onto the bags.

"Don't you want to say goodbye to the others?" Jayden asked Lauren.

Lauren stood shocked for a moment, and then nervously looked away from Jayden. "I'm... not very good at goodbyes.. or hello's sometimes." She stumbled to say. "I just..."

"Don't worry about it. I understand." Jayden told her.

Lauren smiled and gave Jayden another hug as well as a farewell kiss on the cheek. She headed with Mentor Ji to the Shiba House exit. As she was leaving however, she briefly glanced back hearing the other rangers approaching and sighed at her own inability to say goodbye to them. The remaining five rangers arrived at the hall where Jayden was, each with their bags packed and their hopes ready for the future.

"Hey Jayden!" Antonio eagerly said running up to Jayden. "I have scored the golden ticket. An around the world fishing expedition." He said showing Jayden a brochure for his fishing trip. "This is the trip of a lifetime. I'm going to catch fish that nobody's heard of." He said.

"That sounds like a great opportunity Antonio." Jayden told him.

"You bet it is." Antonio said proudly. As he looked around, he noticed that Lauren wasn't there despite being the first one to finish packing that morning. "Hey Jayden, where's Lauren at?" He asked.

Jayden stood silent for a brief moment before he answered his best friend. "Lauren had to leave early, but she wishes all of you the best, and hopes to meet up again sometime." He answered.

"Lauren left without saying goodbye to us?" Mia asked hurt.

"What did you expect, she was never the social type to begin with." Mike bluntly said.

"Don't be mean Mike." Emily scolded him.

Figuring that Lauren couldn't be too far yet Antonio put down his luggage, and raced out the door to see if he could catch up with her. Sure enough, she was walking to the airport.

"Lauren!" Antonio yelled to get her attention.

Lauren turned around in shock that Antonio would follow her all the way here. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back at Shiba House with the others?" Lauren asked him.

"I could ask you the same question." Antonio said. "Why did you leave without saying goodbye to us?" He asked her.

Lauren stood unsure how to answer, and merely repeated what she had told Jayden earlier. "I'm... not very good at goodbyes.. or hello's sometimes." She stumbled to say.

Antonio shook his head in disbelief. "You don't think that saying goodbye was hard for us? After all we've been through you were just going to leave without another word." He chastised you.

"That's the problem Antonio. I haven't gone through anything with the rest of you. You're all so close, and Jayden is such a good leader. I don't fit in with the rest of you. I can try to be your friend, but we all know I don't belong." Lauren yelled at him.

"Of course you belong." Antonio yelled back. "We could have never defeated Master Xandred without your help and you know that." He told her more gently.

Lauren looked away to avert his eyesight and sighed. "Why are you so nice to me? I was the reason that Jayden left the team remember." She told him.

Antonio shook his head in disagreement. "Jayden leaving the team was his own decision. We all reacted differently to that, but you can't blame yourself. Besides, it's all in the past now." He told her.

"Stop trying to make me feel better." Lauren told Antonio.

"Why should I?" Antonio asked Lauren.

"Because you could never understand what I've been through." Lauren said. "I trained my entire life to end this battle. I sacrificed so much and worked so hard. When I thought I was ready it turns out the team I was supposed to lead didn't even want me. Jayden is the better leader, he's the better fighter, he's the better red ranger. I gave up everything, and in the end I still wasn't good enough. The sealing symbol failed and I wasn't even good enough to fight alongside the rest of you." Lauren said.

Antonio's expression lightened from an angry one, to a more compassionate one. "You're right, I don't know what you've been through. I don't know everything you've been through or what you've done to get here. What I do understand is the feeling of sacrificing everything for our team. I trained every day so that I could be good enough to fight alongside Jayden. I worked to make sure that I could be beside my best friend in this. I might not be the best fighter on the team, or the most hardworking, but I joined because I wanted to help." He told her.

"You really care about Jayden that much?" Lauren asked him. "He's such a good leader that I could never hope to compare to him." She said.

"It's not just Jayden. When i started training it was so I could help him fight, but once I joined the team I grew to care for everyone on it. That includes you Lauren. You're part of our team even if you don't feel like you are." He told her. "Besides, if you ask the other's they'll tell you Jayden wasn't always the perfect leader. He has this natural ability to inspire people, but he was so hesitant to work with them. He'd rush into battle every time and had to learn teamwork more times than I can remember. You would've been a great leader if you had been given the chance." He added.

For the first time since they began to talk, Lauren smiled at Antonio. "Do the others feel the same way?" She asked him.

"Of course they do." Antonio said. "Kevin's always talking about how amazing you are with a spin sword. Emily looks up to you like an older sister. Mia's glad that someone finally likes her cooking. Jayden's happy to have his sister back. Mike can be blunt, but be means the best. Never forget Lauren we're rangers together, samurai forever." Antonio told her.

"Why wouldn't someone like Mia's cooking?" Lauren asked confused.

Antonio laughed heavily and grabbed Lauren's hand. "Come on let's go have a proper farewell." He told her.

The pair walked back to Shiba House exchanging stories and laughing together. When they finally arrived, the other Samurai Rangers were at the front gate ready to leave themselves.

"Antonio, Lauren you came back." Emily happily said.

"I thought you weren't good at goodbyes." Jayden told Lauren.

Lauren blushed slightly and looked away. "Antonio can be a bit persuasive. That, and he's also just a great person to talk to." Lauren said.

"We wanted to apologize for how we treated you when you first came. With Jayden leaving we were worried about him, and we never really stopped to think about your feelings." Mia said.

"It wasn't fair on you. You already had so much to deal with between leading a new team, and getting ready to perform the sealing symbol. We didn't make the adjustment any easier." Kevin said.

"Yeah they were jerks." Mike said.

Emily glared at Mike. "They were jerks?" She repeated questioningly.

"Okay, we were jerks." Mike relented.

Lauren smiled and nodded. "That's all in the past, and to be honest I was never the social type to begin with." She said. Mike smirked knowing that he was right in saying that earlier, but Emily gently elbowed him in return. "So what's everyone going to do now that the fighting is over?" Lauren asked them.

The rangers went over their plans for life after defeating the Nighloks. Kevin was going back to his swim team to train for the Olympics. Mia was going to culinary school, something that Lauren didn't understand as her food was already great. Emily was going back to take care of her sister, and Mike was going together with Emily. It seemed everyone was going their separate ways to live a happy life.

"So what are your plans Lauren?" Antonio asked her.

Lauren smiled and looked up hopeful. "I decided to take your advice from the farewell party. I'm going to travel and see the world that I never got to see before." She said. Suddenly however a shocking realization hit her and her smile faded away. "I missed my flight coming back to say goodbye to all of you." She said.

"Oh no!" Emily said.

"Can you get another one?" Jayden asked her.

"Maybe, but it'll be hard to get one anytime soon. Not to mention I don't think I'll get the money back from the first flight." Lauren said saddening.

Antonio put his hand on Lauren's shoulder. "Don't worry. It's my fault you missed the flight since I dragged you back to say goodbye to the others, so I'll be able to make this right." He said.

"Antonio, if you're offering to pay for my next flight you don't have to do that." Lauren said.

"Well that's good because I wasn't offering that at all." Antonio told her.

Lauren looked at Antonio confused. "Then what do you mean by making this right?" She asked.

Antonio pulled out his fishing trip brochure along with the ticket for it. "I have a second ticket for this trip. I was going to ask Jayden to come with me, but since I've messed up your plans do you want to come with me instead?" Antonio asked her.

"Oh Antonio. I appreciate the offer, but I could never take Jayden's spot." Lauren said.

"Yeah, you remember what happened when she tried to take Jayden's spot on the team." Mike said.

Emily glared at Mike again, and gave him another gentle elbowing. "Mike, why are you so mean to Lauren?" Emily asked him.

"Come on. We were all thinking it." Mike said defending himself.

Lauren laughed, and the others joined in laughing as well. "It's okay Mike, I was thinking it too." She told him.

"Go on the trip with Antonio." Jayden told Lauren. "I'll have plenty of time to do things with my best friend when you get back, but this will be good for you." He told her.

Lauren smiled and hugged Jayden strongly. "Why do you have to be so perfect? You're a great fighter, a great leader, and a great brother." She told him.

Jayden smiled back at her. "That comes with years of experience." He told her.

"I'm older than you." Lauren said tearfully laughing.

The rangers gathered together for a final group hug. "Since this is the last time we're here together I think we should say it one last time." Antonio said. Everyone nodded, and put their morphers in the air together.

"Rangers Together! Samurai Forever!" The cheered before going their separate ways.

"Now that's what I call a samurai's farewell." Antonio said to himself before heading off with Lauren to their fishing trip. Lauren smiled at Antonio ready to take on the world with her new friend.


End file.
